Woman, 4 kids found dead after Oklahoma City fire

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Firefighters discovered the bodies of a woman and four children on Wednesday after a predawn blaze ripped through a house on the city's northwest side, fire officials said.

The children, who range in age from 2 to 8 years old, and the woman were found inside the house after firefighters arrived at the two-story, wood-frame home shortly after 6:30 a.m., Fire Department Maj. Tammy McKinney said. A man also is in critical condition at a local hospital, she said.

"When we got on scene, we had reports that there were children inside," McKinney said. "The fire was so intense that we could not make entry and had to knock the fire down before we could make entry. That's when we found the bodies."

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. McKinney said the home did not have working smoke detectors.

"The Oklahoma City Police Department's homicide unit, along with our investigators, will work together to investigate the fire cause or anything that might be suspicious about it," McKinney said. "There was a lot of fire involvement, and that always makes it harder to pinpoint the fire cause."

McKinney said it is standard procedure for police to assist in any fire investigation that includes fatalities.

She said the interior of the home about a mile east of Lake Hefner in northwest Oklahoma City appears completely gutted by the fire.

Three dogs also were found dead inside the home, McKinney said.

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